A recent recipient of the Ring Magazine Prospect of the Year award, red-hot British heavyweight Moses Itauma will be back in action in April, this fight to follow his hugely impressive, it-was-meant-to-be-a-test first-round stoppage of Demsey McKean. And Francis Warren of Queensbury has revealed to Talk Sport some of the names that make up the short-list of possible opponents for the 20-year-old southpaw.
There has been some talk of Itauma, 11-0(9), perhaps facing unbeaten Australian heavyweight Justis Huni in a fight that would contest the WBO interim title, but if this does happen, it will be after the February 22 fight between Daniel Dubois and current WBO interim champ Joseph Parker. Warren said the following names are possibilities for Itauma’s April bout.
“It is a collective decision as to how quickly we move, but you can rattle off some names,” Warren said. “Filip Hrgovic, Otto Wallin, Justis Huni that is a big fight that is being talked about, Charles Martin is another great name on our radar. But the fact is Moses is 20 in his second year as a professional, and he is already being talked about fighting some of the big guys. Moses is set to fight again in April before any interim title fight is discussed. The Huni fight, the reason he is specifically being targetted is because they are ranked number 5, or number 6 in the world rankings. If that interim title does become available following Dubois’ fight with Joseph Parker, then we can grab it with both hands.”
Itauma, as good as he is, as special as he is, needs rounds to gain experience. But who out there, aside from the elite fighters, can give him these rounds? It probably won’t be Wallin next for Itauma, as he is fighting Derek Chisora next month, and maybe Hrgovic would be a little too big a jump at this stage. Or maybe not. Martin, who briefly held the IBF belt Dubois now holds, would likely be a good test for Itauma.
But are fighters pricing themselves out of a fight with Itauma, as dangerous as he clearly is? Let’s see just who signs on to face Itauma in April.
Read the full article here
